One hundred years ago life was much different than it is today. The average life expectancy was 47 years. Only fourteen per cent of homes had a bathtub. Only eight per cent of homes had a telephone. There were only eight thousand cars and only 144 miles of roads (and the maximum speed limit in most cities was ten miles per hour)!
The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents an hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 a year. More than 95 per cent of all births took place at home. Ninety per cent of all doctors had no college education, but attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press as “substandard.”
In 1908 sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Only six per cent of Americans graduated from high school. But - there were only 230 reported murders in the entire United States!
Try to imagine what life will be like 100 hundred years from now. It boggles my mind. Life changes so rapidly. It is difficult to say with certainty what life will be like in a hundred years. The rate of change is increasing, not decreasing.
Here are some things that are certain, though. People without Christ will still be lost and in need of Christ. Jesus will still be the only way of salvation. The Bible will still be the Word of God. The church will continue to be the means through which missionaries, evangelistic work, worship, and Christian service continue. Lives of integrity, preparation, and yieldedness will still make a huge difference for Christ. Onward to the future!
Yours in Christ,
Bill Patterson
Posted on
Thursday, September 4, 2008
by Erica Sutphin